Taran Killam started off his acting career with a bang, scoring his first credit in one of comedy’s most revered movie franchises.
The former Saturday Night Live star’s career stretches back to 1994, when Killam starred in Geriatric Park. If that doesn’t sound familiar, it’s because the movie isn’t real. Rather, it’s a fictional film seen in The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult.
The third (and, until recently, final) film in the Naked Gun franchise culminates in a climactic third act set at the Academy Awards, where Lieutenant Frank Drebin is attempting to intercept an awards envelope that contains a bomb. Presenting the award for Best Director, Drebin and Raquel Welch read off the list of nominees. Each one is a parody of a film from that era, and clips from each faux flick are shown.
“For his tale of genetics gone haywire in a retirement community, Steven Spielberg, Geriatric Park,” Welch says. With that, they cut to a clip from the movie: a boy and a girl in an SUV, turning to notice the ripples in cups of water as something giant stomps toward them. The monster is revealed to be the foot of a walker being gripped by a towering senior citizen. The boy and girl are shown once more, pressing their hands up against the glass as they scream in horror.
That boy is none other than an 11-year-old Killam, who is credited simply as “Boy of Geriatric Park.” But while his scene is only comprised of two shots, it was almost a bigger part.
As Killam revealed in an interview on The Rich Eisen Show in 2019, he initially had a speaking role in the movie-within-a-movie. “I had a line, but they cut it,” he confirmed. (Though Killam didn’t share any scenes with Leslie Nielsen, he also recounts getting to meet the Naked Gun star at the premiere, thanks to an introduction from Killam’s great uncle, actor Robert Stack.)
Killam went on to maintain a busy filmography throughout his youth, including sketch shows like The Amanda Show and MADtv, before landing at Saturday Night Live in 2010.
Great and hilarious movie. Best Naked Gun movie.
Oscars bit was hilarious and my first exposure to Phil Donahue.
“Best actor in a Columbus movie?”